‘So who did you trust to threaten a valued member of staff?’

‘The name escapes me; again, HR can help.’

‘And who gave you cause to worry that George might be working elsewhere?’

Philip had spread his hands and sat back in his leather recliner at this point, fingers together, groin on display. He’d watched as Kelly Porter’s expression changed imperceptibly from mistrust to disgust.

‘Again, HR will tell you.’

‘Well that’s our problem, Mr Tooting, HR can’t tell us. The signature on the letter is yours, and it was generated in this office by your secretary – her initials are on it – so it must have been dictated by you.’

‘Sometimes letters that are not dictated by me bear my title.’

‘Is that ethical?’

‘Of course. It’s business.’

‘There’s no file in HR that tells us what George Murphy was suspected of doing, and I have to say that my conclusion is that you’re being obstructive.’

The male had joined in at that point, and Philip had realised with a thrill that Porter’s colleague was mesmerised by her too. He looked between them and decided to throw her a bone.

‘Look, George was a much-respected colleague. He was part of the furniture here. I seem to remember some talk – and that was probably all it was – that he was looking to move on. We wanted to keep him. His contract said that he couldn’t work for a competitor for a year after leaving us. It’s standard.’

‘So what about the garage in Bethnal Green?’

‘I had no idea about that, and I’m trying to keep it quiet to preserve George’s reputation. There were rumours that he suffered the same affliction as his daughter. He was a drug addict, and I think he was stealing from his lab to support his habit.’

That had shut her up. From then on in, the meeting had grown tiresome, and the detectives had given him their cards and asked him to call with anything he might remember: all standard stuff. They’d left unhappy, of course; coppers were never anything but. However, something told Philip that he needed to make a few phone calls after they left, because he knew that DI Kelly Porter had only been pushed off the scent in the short term. She’d be back. He’d noticed a tension between the two detectives that was more than professional, and he reckoned that might be something to use.

Chapter 29